ARGOS Training
Glossary of Helpful Terms
Term
Related
To:
Administrator
Argos
ARGOS
Argos
Banded Report
Argos
Banner
CSV
Argos
CSV Report
Argos
Data Dictionary
ODS
Database
Datablock
Banner,
ODS
Argos
End User
Argos
ETL or Extract,
Transform and
Load
Evisions
ODS
Rev. 1.0 2/16/2016
Argos
Definition
The administrator will be involved with installing and managing the
Argos system and security
Ad Hoc Report Generation and Output Solution. Evision’s third party
software that is able to create user reports from relational databases.
A banded report is also based on a Report Datablock. The report creator
has control over what fields will be displayed, as well as how they are
displayed. Using the Banded Report, the end user can organize the data
into logical banded areas. The final output can be printed or saved in some
other format
An administrative suite of student, financial aid, finance, HR, and
advancement systems applications on a single database.
Comma Separated Value. CSV is a normal format for files as they are
downloaded or exported from an application. A CSV file can be opened
and manipulated in common tools like Microsoft Excel.
A CSV Report is based on a Report Datablock. Here, the report creator
has more control over what fields will be displayed (and how), and may
add fields. The selected data will be extracted in a form usable by other
applications
In database management systems, a file that defines the basic organization
of a database. A data dictionary contains a list of all files in the database,
the number of records in each file, and the names and types of each field.
Most database management systems keep the data dictionary hidden from
users to prevent them from accidentally destroying its contents.
Data dictionaries do not contain any actual data from the database, only
bookkeeping information for managing it. Without a data dictionary,
however, a database management system cannot access data from the
database.
A database is a collection of data that is organized so that its contents can
easily be accessed, managed and updated.
The foundation of reports within Argos, datablocks are essentially queries
that are developed by Power users which pull information from the
database. Both end users and power users make use of datablocks when
developing reports.
The end user will be using Argos to create and run reports. In all aspects
of developing Argos, their needs were number one. Argos allows end
users to access information without having to involve the IT staff
The ETL process is used to populate the ODS from the Banner database.
This is done on a periodic (often nightly) basis to refresh the data in the
ODS
Company that created ARGOS
ARGOS Training
Glossary of Helpful Terms
Explorer Tree
Argos
foreign key
ODS
index
ODS
Instance
Banner,
ODS
key field:
ODS
KPI
ODS
Rev. 1.0 2/16/2016
Located on the ARGOS desktop. The explorer tree is comprised of
Folders, Datablocks and reports. The folders can be named to organize
your work.
: A key used in one table to represent the value of a primary key in a
related table. While primary keys must contain unique values, foreign
keys may have duplicates. For instance, if we use student ID as the
primary key in a Students table (each student has a unique ID), we could
use student ID as a foreign key in a Courses table: as each student may do
more than one course, the student ID field in the Courses table (often
shortened to Courses.student ID) will hold duplicate values
A summary table which lets you quickly look up the contents of any
record in a table. Think of how you use an index to a book: as a quick
jumping off point to finding full information about a subject. A database
index works in a similar way. You can create an index on any field in a
table. Say, for example, you have a customer table which contains
customer numbers, names, addresses and other details. You can make
indexes based on any information, such as the customers? customer
number, last name + first name (a composite index based on more than
one field), or postal code. Then, when you’re searching for a particular
customer or group of customers, you can use the index to speed up the
search. This increase in performance may not be noticeable in a table
containing a hundred records; in a database of thousands of records it will
be a blessing.
An instance, as defined by Oracle, is made up of the system global area
(SGA), background processes and database files on disk. From an end
user perspective the user should think of an instance as a database that the
user can interact. For example the PROD instance (database) which
identifies the production database and the PPRD instance which identifies
the quality assurance database.
You can sort and quickly retrieve information from a database by
choosing one or more fields to act as keys. For instance, in a students
table you could use a combination of the last name and first name fields
(or perhaps last name, first name and birth dates to ensure you identify
each student uniquely) as a key field. The database program will create an
index containing just the key field contents. Using the index, you can
quickly find any record by typing in the student’s name. The database
will locate the correct entry in the index and then display the full record.
KPIs, or key performance indicators, help organizations achieve
organizational goals through the definition and measurement of progress.
The key indicators are agreed upon by an organization and are indicators
which can be measured that will reflect success factors. The KPIs selected
must reflect the organization's goals, must be key to its success, and must
be measurable. Key performance indicators usually are long-term
considerations for an organization.
ARGOS Training
Glossary of Helpful Terms
Metadata
Databases
Normalization
ODS
Normalized
Databases
NULL
ODS
ODS Instance
ODS
ODS or
Operational Data
Store
ODS
OLAP
ODS
Parameter Form
Argos
Datablocks
Power User
Argos
Rev. 1.0 2/16/2016
Data about data. Such as: Tables about tables in the database, their
names, sizes and number of rows in each table. Tables of columns in each
database, what tables they are used in, and the type of data stored in each
column.
Normalization is the process of arranging information in a way, which
removes redundancy and ambiguity. Normalization involves arranging the
data in related tables. There are three main forms of normalization
representing different level of normalization. The 3 normal forms are:
First Normal Form (1NF): In the First Normal Form each table column
must contain different type of information. Second Normal Form (2NF):
In the Second Normal Form any attribute not depending on the primary
key in a table must be removed. Third Normal Form (3NF): In the Third
Normal Form no duplicated data is allowed.
In relational databases, normalization is a process that eliminates
redundancy, organizes the data efficiently, reduces the potential for
anomalies during data operations and improves data consistency. Data is
spread out logically into many tables.
The NULL SQL keyword is used to represent a missing or unknown
value. NULL in SQL represents nothing.
The database where all the ODS functions, composite tables and views are
run.
A place that stores significant types and pieces of information in a format
that promotes ease of retrieval and analysis. An ODS is denormalized to
make reporting more user friendly. The information you need might be
found in one table rather than multiple tables which could be the case in a
normalized database.
Short for Online Analytical Processing, a category of software tools that
provides analysis of data stored in a database. OLAP tools enable users to
analyze different dimensions of multidimensional data. For example, it
provides time series and trend analysis views. OLAP often is used in data
mining.
The chief component of OLAP is the OLAP server, which sits between a
client and a database management system (DBMS). The OLAP server
understands how data is organized in the database and has special
functions for analyzing the data. There are OLAP servers available for
nearly all the major database systems.
The parameter form has two functions. First it is used to have the user
executing the report a chance to enter or choose from a list, certain
parameters that will be used to filter the data displayed in the report.
Secondly, the parameter form can be used to display the final results of
the report.
The power user will be building the foundation from which the end user
can create and run reports. Using query skills, power users can quickly
build usable datablocks
ARGOS Training
Glossary of Helpful Terms
primary key
ODS
Query Design
Form
Argos
Datablocks
Quick launch tab
Argos
Quick View
Report
Argos
Refresh
relational
database
ODS
ODS
SQL
Argos
Table
Banner,
ODS
ODS
View
Rev. 1.0 2/16/2016
A field that uniquely identifies a record in a table. In a students table, for
instance, a key built from last name + first name might not give you a
unique identifier (two or more Jane Does in the school, for example). To
uniquely identify each student, you might add a special Student ID field to
be used as the primary key.
The second part of building a datablock is the Query Design. This is
where the developer creates the main sql statement for pulling back data
from the data source based on the choices the end user has made on the
parameter form. From an end user point of view, they only see the
Parameter form as designed, and the results from the query on the query
design, if present
This is used for short cuts to easily access reports. Users can click on the
“locate” button from the quick launch tab to find where the report exists
within their organizational tree.
A Quick View Report is based off of a QuickView Datablock. Although
the user can save the returned data, the power of a QuickView Report is
that the user can quickly and easily retrieve/view the data with a minimum
of trouble. This really is “Information Access.”
When the ETL runs and updates the ODS from Banner.
A database consisting of more than one table. In a multi-table database,
you not only need to define the structure of each table, you also need to
define the relationships between each table in order to link those tables
correctly
Often pronounced “Sequel”, SQL stands for structured query language. It
is used to manipulate data in a database.
The object within the database where data is stored in a row and column
format.
A logical representation of information in the database. It is often used to
remove database complexity and restrict access to information that is
stored in the database.